Fever
by Fanfic1900
Summary: Written for Forgotten Family ties compeition, Set in 2009, Dominique is unwell and Fleur's at loss with what to do, and so the greiving Molly comes to the rescue- but who's rescueing who?


A/N Written for the Forgotten Family Competition- My pairing Dominique Molly I, prompt- Fever

* * *

><p>As usual it was quiet when Molly woke, and she woke alone. It was quiet when she ate breakfast, where she ate alone, and it was quiet when she began reading the novel Audrey had dropped off the night before, and again, she read alone. Molly had grown used to this solitude routine her life now followed and was therefore surprised when this solitude was unexpectedly disturbed by the dramatic appearance of Fleur through the Floo network, the usually graceful and composed woman tripping as she tumbled frantically out of the fire place,<p>

'Molly, it is Dominique!' She cried, her lopsided hair falling in her face,

'She is not well, I think she 'as a fever. I do not know what to do with her, and I 'ave a few appointments I cannot miss! Would you mind coming over to our 'ouse to watch her today?' Raising her eyebrows and setting down her novel, Molly replied,

'Sick again Fleur? I seem to remember Bill saying she was off colour last month in his owl.'

'Yes, Bill and I do not know vat is wrong with her, but she is always unwell. Now,' Fleur said as she gestured towards the flickering flame of the fire,

'Are you coming? I would really appreciate your help today Molly' Unable to refuse, and considering her agenda was relatively clear as it was most days, Molly took a handful of the emerald green powder next to the fireplace, and followed Fleur, arriving instantaneously in Shell cottage, which at first glance appeared to be more dishellved than it was usually,

'Sorry for all the mess,' Fleur said hastily, noticing Molly's gaze,

'Because of this child, I 'ave not been able to tidy up as I normally would have.' Pointing towards the first door visible from the family room Fleur continued,

'She is just in there, fast asleep. The other two 'ave already left for their holiday with their Grandmere and Grandpere, so they are not 'ere. 'Opefully, Dominique will get better so she can join them as well.' Seeing Fleur's worried face, Molly patted and rubbed her back sympathetically,

'Dominique will be fine. A day with Grandma Weasley will see her back on her feet and over to France in no time. Now, you better go get to your appointments, and I'll watch your little one.'

'Thank you so much Molly,' Fleur said, smiling as she glided back over towards the fireplace,

'I 'ope she does not give you any trouble, but if she does just owl me. She is a feisty one,' Molly shook her head fondly,

'I've raised her father and all those who followed him, I'm sure I'll be fine.' And with one final appreciative smile and laugh Fleur disappeared, leaving Molly standing alone in the living room, chuckling at times gone by.

Opening Dominique's door slightly, she was pleased to see that the girl appeared to be sleeping and thought it would be best to leave her there for the time being. Shuffling over to the kitchen and lighting up the fire under the cauldron in preparation for brewing a remedial potion, she caught sight of the large Weasley family portrait they had had taken last year hanging on the adjacent wall. Molly herself had many copies distributed throughout the Burrow and couldn't stop but proudly admire it every time it came to her attention. Molly found that often, Wizard photographs couldn't quite catch the shine or the redness of the famous Weasley mop, and this one was no exception with the majority of the Weasley's hair looking rather pale and washed out compared to all the non redheads of the family. But the thing about this photo that made it Molly's favourite was the fact that everyone was laughing and smiling, which was amazing considering how much grumbling went on prior to having the picture taken,

'_We have to sit still James,' Harry had said crossly trying to keep a hold on the wriggling four year old,_

'_No! I don't want to! Daaaad!' James had squeaked as he tried to wriggle out of Harry's firm grasp, as an interested Albus looked on. _

'_Where has Fred gone?' Angela had shouted, frantically searching through the mass of wriggling bodies that were the Weasley grandchildren,_

'_Oh honestly!' Molly had exclaimed as she ushered her family into position, endeavouring to avoid stepping on any of the grandchildren as they scrambled roughly towards their parents. The photographer was only hired for an hour, and after 51mins they had not taken one photo they had all of the family in it, as various members had wandered off, often in search for wayward children. It was only Arthur's calming presence and firm grip on Molly's hand that kept her from yelling in frustration at the Weasley's inability to stand still for a photo, and this was rewarded when in the last 3mins they had taken the winning shot, the photo that was mass ordered and lovingly distributed through the family. _

They had come through splendidly, Molly thought fondly as she combed over the faces approvingly, her eyes lingering on the faces of her grandchildren. There was little James and Albus, sitting next to Rose, Victoire and Louis, who were right next to the twins Fred and Roxanne and her own namesake Molly. Squinting at the photo, it suddenly struck Molly that she could not spot Dominique in the photo anywhere. She certainly wasn't with the other kids, and Molly couldn't see her unique strawberry blonde hair poking out from any of the adults legs. How could they have missed her?

'I'm hiding in that picture' came a small voice from behind Molly, giving her near heart failure.

'Dominique! Why are you out of bed?'

'Cos I saw you were looking at the photo' Dominique replied crossly, as if the answer was obvious. Standing on her tiptoes Dominique pointed at the photo,

'See? I'm hiding behind Grandad Weasley.' Squinting again at the photo, Molly watched Arthur and saw that when he looked to the side a flash of faint strawberry blonde hair framing a little face could be seen giggling away.

'Now why did you hide and ruin such a good photo?' Molly reprimanded, putting her hands on her hips in a disgruntled manner, staring down at the girl, who rather than avert her eyes like most children would do in the same situation, merely returned the intimidating gaze,

'I was just trying to make it more fun.' Dominique reasoned, shifting her weight from side to side, 'Grandad thought it was funny, that's why he's laughing.' At these words, her head fell,

'I miss Grandad, Grandma. He was fun.' Molly's face rapidly lost its stern look at these words and her head began to spin, causing her to have to grab the mantle over the fireplace to keep her balance.

'Yes dear, Grandma misses him very much as well.' Molly replied heavily, her heart slowing as memories swirled around her mind; Arthur at their wedding, Arthur holding a new born Bill, Arthur tinkering in his shed, yelling at Arthur for tinkering in the shed. Before the memories could properly take unfold and develop, a soft hiss emitted from the still brewing remedial potion caught Molly's attention as she hastily turned to it. Giving it a quick stir she dropped in the remaining ingredients and after the potion's colouring became that of a ripe green apple required Molly was satisfied that the potion was ready.

'Ok, now drink this' Molly said gently as she conjured a flask in which she deposited a portion of the potion for Dominique to drink, who gladly snatched it from her grasp.

'Now, now, it's not a race you know' Molly reminded, as Dominique sculled the potion, pulling a disgusted face when she was done.

'That twig of holly did _nothing _for that potion Grandma, it was still disgusting,' she informed Molly, who chuckled at Dominique's disgruntled expression, which became even more disgruntled when she was informed that she would need to take it again in a few hours time.

'But for now off to bed! You need rest m'dear.' And after shepherding Dominique back into her room, Molly once again found herself alone in the kitchen of Shell Cottage, the remnants of the remedial potion still hissing over the faint fire.

* * *

><p>When Dominique emerged a few hours later, she found Molly crouched over one of the cottages many photo albums, dabbing at her eye with a handkerchief,<p>

'Dominique! What are you doing up?' Concern rose in her eyes, 'Are you not feeling well? Do you need more medicine?' Dominique shook her head, glad for the attention,

'No, I feel good actually Grandma.' Cocking her head, she asked what Molly was looking at,

'Oh just some photo albums,' Molly replied, looking down reminiscently at the photos, 'See look' she said holding up the book for Dominique to look, 'There's your granddaddy.' Molly started to cry, the tears no longer containable by the dabbing of a handkerchief, as Dominique grabbed Molly's hand, unsure of what else to do.

'It's ok Grandma, it's alright,' Dominique tried, patting her Grandmother gingerly on the back as she had seen her mother do at Arthur's funeral.

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Grandma's silly,' Molly cried, berating herself for not being able to control her emotions better.

'It's ok Grandma, I get a little sad about it to sometimes.' Dominique informed Molly, 'Grandad was fun, and he used to take me into his shed and we would have a lot of fun.' Molly smiled at the girl,

'You did huh? What about cooking with Grandma? Isn't that fun?' Dominique wrinkled her nose as she thought, reminding Molly distinctly of her twin brothers Fabian and Gideon,

'Well yeah its fun, but you're always so busy you don't let us help a lot. Plus you can get grumpy when you cook.' Molly considered her words and conceded that they probably weren't far off the mark.

'Well, Grandma will try harder to cook more often with you grandchildren and to make it fun, how does that sound?' Dominique carefully considered these words, and Molly smiled at the serious expression on the eight year olds face,

'Better. But you know what would also be fun?'

'What?'

'Well, Fred said that his Nanna takes them on walks and shows them how to climb tree and how to fly and everything like that. Maybe you could do that to!'

'I don't know, Fred Nanna is, well,_ better _at climbing trees than Grandma.' Seeing Dominique's face fall Molly quickly added, 'But you know, I could take you on walks and I could teach you how to make Daisy trains or something.' As Molly desperately tried to please Dominique it struck her how little time she spent with her Grandchildren individually and even though she loved them all very much, she spent more time cooking when they were over rather than taking them out and doing things with them. And how obliviously she wasted time when she was with them. Similarly to how she was wasting time now. With renewed spark and one last look at the photo of Arthur, Molly put the book away and announced a trip to the seaside was in order.

* * *

><p>When Fleur arrived back later that afternoon she found the house to be empty, a note detailing Molly and Dominique's expedition. Fleur smiled at this, and was glad that Molly had gone out of the house for awhile and she knew that Dominique would love the extra time spent with her Grandmother as she had taken Arthur's death the hardest out of the three children. The pair suddenly emerged over a sand dune and Fleur laughed as she saw Dominique perched on a broom stick, zooming along as a rather red looking Molly chased after her. Looking behind to check where Molly was, Dominique managed to fly her broom into the fence that surrounded the perimeter of Shell Cottage and subsequently bursting into a fit of tears. Before Fleur could so much as blink however, Molly was there, cuddling Dominique and kissing her forehead, effectively soothing the girl, who then hand and hand with Molly made their way to the Cottage, smiling from ear to ear<p> 


End file.
